Lecturers
Roman Janeček
Roman Janeček - a pastry chef and baker, who not only invents new flavours and oversees the quality of the dough in his luxury sweet wreath boutique, but also devotes himself to his customers and his catering services.
Everything takes its time. Roman Janeček, who bakes cakes for his colleagues for fun, knows this well. When one day he was asked to make wreaths, he set about it with such vigour that today he runs the Wreath Boutique and smiles as he recalls the sweet beginnings of his pastry career born in the warehouse of a shop on Pařížská Street. A passion turned into a hobby and a hobby turned into her own business. He picked up the experience from his great-grandmother, a village pastry chef, with whom he spent more than one summer holiday. His love of baking came back into his life, no exaggeration, thanks to the pandemic when, as he says, "there was more time for everything."
He's put a 21st-century coat on classic wreaths. Less sugar, more natural flavour and a more convenient size combine to create a unique taste experience.
Ondřej Marek
Ondřej Marek has been working in gastronomy for more than 10 years and has worked in all positions from chef, waiter, sommelier to restaurant management. He was always close to Italy and its gastronomic culture, so he worked most of his career for Italian concepts such as The Italiens, Casa de Carli or Da Pietro in Pilsen. The dream of his own business focused on wine began in 2022, when he spent most of the year in Italy looking for and getting to know small natural winemakers, with whom he began to cooperate and import their wines. The BAR NATURAL project launched in 2023 (e-shop and wine distribution). Today, Ondřej is working on opening a brick-and-mortar store with a bar. His vision is to introduce people to authentic wines from Italian regions, which are the result of honest work and many years of experience.
Lukáš Hanzl
Professional bartender and rum expert with many years of mixology experience from various corners of the country.
Lukáš Hanzl is a professional bartender and rum expert who has many years of mixology experience from various corners of the country.
He worked as a bartender in Prague's famous Tretterś New York Bar, where during his 14-year tenure he worked his way up from barback to manager of the extablisment.
Today, you will most often meet him as a speaker at tastings with a glass in one hand and a cigar in the other.
For several years, he worked intensively as a brand ambassador for Diplomatico rum and successfully helped bring it to the fore on the Czech rum scene. Today, he deals with a wider portfolio of rum brands, but he found his greatest liking in the diverse Plantation rums.
During tastings, Lukáš likes to prove that drinking quality rum is a real gastronomic experience. Gastronomy is in his blood - his father was a chef and hi himself trained as a chef-waiter. Shortly after his apprenticeship, however, he met Miloš Tretter on a bartending course, and his life took a completely new direction. The world of cocktails and luxury drinks completely absorbed Lukáš and has not let go until now.
Lukáš says about his journey of rums: "The rum category is so diverse that everyone can find their favorite. And the journey is beautiful and long. I've already found mine and I'll be happy to help you find yours.
Jan Albrecht
Sommelire, expert in gastronomie and all above, ambassador of premium rums for UPB. He is dedicated mainly to prestigious rum brands such as Boltran, Millionaire and Plantation and cigars for more then 15 years. Jan is primarily an expert in gastronomy, both in the field of prestigious rums and cigars, but he is also a recognized sommelier who has worked in the most prestigious establiishments in Prague. He has dedicated himself to cigars for over then 15 years and is a lover of quality spirits, wines and cigars and is actively engaged in pairing them. With the intensity that he devotes to rums, he also deals with cigars and likes to visit both distilleries and cigar factories. He felt best on the tobacco plantations of Perdomo Arturo Fuente brands. And its him together with our head chef of Aromi Marco, who prepared this unique course aimed at your taste buds in the form of pairing cigars with rums and brandy's with specialties from Aromi's kitchen.
Marek Čimbora
Bartender and mixologist at the popular Kro Bistro & Bar in Prague's Karlín. Marek Čimbora is bartender and mixologist at the popular Kro Bistro & Bar in Prague's Karlín. He has been at home behind the bar since he was 15 years old, but his real home is Kysuce, Slovakia. This is where his passion for herbs and nature comes from. That's why he likes to combine them and enjoy them while preparing alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. You can meet him behind the bar with a shaker in hand, on a walk in the forest or training functional movement with combat elements. Before coming to Prague, he worked in Bratislava's SaSaZ or the popular SOHO. He collaborated with Ultra Premium Brands on the Gin and Rum Festival.
Tomáš Mozr
Bar historian, journalist, bartender and cocktail fan, who has been working in gastronomy field for over 15 years. Tomáš Mozr is a bar historian, journalist, geographer, bartender, and above all a cocktail enthusiast who has been active in the field of gastronomy for more than 15 years. Although he has extensive experience behind the bar, he has always been more drawn to writing, not only on a popularizing level, but also academically, where he specializes in American and European history between the two world wars. He currently works at Ultra Premium Brands as the editor-in-chief of Warehouse #1 magazine. He also regularly contributes to a number of other periodicals, lectures at industry events and courses for the wider public and creates a podcast for all those interested in cocktail culture called Cocktails according to the alphabet.
Pavla Janečková Hájková
Pavla Janečková Hájková aka Vintage Kitchne has been creating recipes inspired by old cookbooks, cooking them, then styling them for photography and the photo shoot itself for a good few years now. Since childhood, Pavle loved baking with her grandmother and telling stories about what was once cooked at their home. Gradually, she began to realize how we are unconsciously drawn into our past by food, without pausing for the depth of its history. Pavla likes to reconstruct historical recipes in their faithful form and thus returns to established and time-tested procedures. The very open form of ancient recipes lends itself to this approach, as in ancient cookbooks you will not find a specific procedure, but rather rough instructions on how to cook this or that, because earlier it was assumed that a person who knew how to cook. But you will also find more modern recipes with her, which she more or less modifies in order to show the variations of different dishes and encourage others to be interested in a little experimentation as even the recipes of old times have changed over the centruries. Pavla is gueded by the princeple that when cooking it is best to let yourself be guided by taste, your own imagination and inspiration from any era.
Davide Lagomarsino
Davide Lagomarsino is the owner and head chef of prague Unico restaurant, specialise on italian cuisine and seafood. Davide Lagomarsini is italian chef living in Prague and proud owner of Unica restaurant here. He traveled the world in order to gain more experience within local food like Spain, United Kingdom, France and mainly Australia. In Sydney he had find his passion for mixture of italian asian style of cooking and mainly for variety of preparation of seafood. He will be teaching us on our courses these special preparation of different type of fish and seafood generally.
Martin Polačko
Martin Polačko, a Slovak living in Prague for over 20 years, who has travelled the world and his heart is Mexican cuisine. He currently works as a consultant and specialist for a company that produces and distributes Mexican delicacies throughout the Czech Republic Martin Polačko, originaly from Slovakia, is living in Prague for over 20 years and is well known as specialist and consultant for international company that produces and distributes mexican specialties throughout Europe. His passion for mexican cuisine started during his working and traveling experience in USA and then in very popular and famous mexican restaurant in Prague. He is intensively engaged in commercial cooking many years and has media fame around him. He loves cooking for kids and with them too. Mexican cuisine is due to his life experience forever in his heart.
Vojtěch Petržela
Vojtěch Petržela is the sous-chef of the czech restaurant Výčep Korunní, where, he serves customers traditional czech dishes in a modern concept enriched with a touch of region Valaško. Vojtěch is also a former captain of the junior national team and now a member of the senior national team of chefs and confectioners in the Czech Republic. For his young age, he can boast of several beautiful awards. Between 2016 and 2018, he won the Czech Junior International Championship three times in a row. In 2018, he also won the "Discovery of the Year" award, and a year later, at just 21 years old, he won the prestigious "Chef of the Year" award. He also received countless congratulations in 2022, when he placed 4th in the world finals of the Global Chef Challenge Abu Dhabi. At a highly professional level, he is also engaged in carving, i.e. carving fruits and vegetables. The overall second place from the WC in Luxembourg 2022 is a clear proof of this. Congratulations!
Petr Návrat
Over the past 15 years, Petr Návrat has held almost all positions in gastronomy. He gained experience mainly in Britain and Ireland, where he most often mixed flavors behind the bar. However, he never abandoned his dream of owning his own burger joint in Prague - the Burgerman restaurant, which has not stopped collecting superlatives since its opening last year. Already in trial operation, Burgerman made it to the selection of the prestigious Forbes magazine. Petr is currently preparing a new location for his restaurant, which will open to customers in the spring of 2023 - until then, he will serve you his recipe for a perfectly juicy hamburger at our Laboratory.
Kevin Ngu
Kevin Ngu has been living in the Czech Republic for several years. For a long time he worked at the Asian fusion restaurant SaSaZu under the leadership of chef Sahaf Satabay. But he also has experience from abroad, specifically from one of the most famous Asian restaurants in Berlin, Nithan Thai. Now Kevin is happy to serve you his art on a plate in the modern Asian restaurant Sia, where he works under the direction of chef Jiří Štifft. Kevin cooks with his heart, he loves traditional Asian cuisine, but at the same time he realizes the importance of meeting the demand of the tastes of the European population and thus does not resist experiments.
Marco Giampaoli
Marco Giampaoli has been cooking for almost 10 years. Part of his family comes from Italy, but Marco was born in the Czech Republic. He was very close to the kitchen even as a small boy, especially the Italian one. During his career, he worked in the kitchens of famous companies such as Alcron, he worked as a chef at the Wine Food Market restaurant in Smíchov, as sous chef at the Aromi restaurant, and for some time he also cooked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy, specifically in El Molin in Alto Adige, Il Portale in Lombardy and also in Rome at the Al'Oro restaurant. Among other things, Marco also completed a prestigious internship at the Gordon Ramsey restaurant in London, which has been proud of three Michelin stars for twenty years. He currently works as a chef in Aromi restaurant, doing cooking courses and private events.
Roman Paulus
Roman Paulus is the co-owner of Bistro Paulus and the chef of the Olomouc catering company Lobster Catering. In addition, he is also the holder of the most prestigious vobor rating - he won a Michelin star six times for Prague's Alcron. He also has extensive experience abroad, as a little boy he dreamed of one day being able to cook in the world's top restaurants. Immediately after the revolution, he accepted an offer to study in Austria, where he trained and began a career as a professional chef. He gained his first experience with world-class gastronomy in 1999 at the Savoy Hotel in London. From 2000 to 2007, he worked in hotels of the prestigious Hilton chain in Vienna and Prague. From 2008 until 2020, he was the chef at the restaurant of the Radisson Blu Alcron Prague hotel. Roman's internships in international educational institutions (The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management) or world restaurants (Michelin-starred restaurants La Pergola in Rome and Maison du Boeuf in Brussels) are definitely worth mentioning.
Zdeněk Pohlreich
Zdeněk became famous thanks to the show ANO, ŠÉFE!, which mapped the state of Czech gastronomy for more than 10 years. He is co-owner of three Prague restaurants Café Imperial, Next Door and Divinis.
In 2022 he published his biography, which documents his entire gastronomic life. He and his colleague wrote down everything that preceded his entry into the public consciousness through Yes, Chef! to the present day. He talks about his background, his ancestors, his childhood, his apprenticeship, the war, his difficult emigration and his return to the emerging capitalism in the 1990s. The book is mainly about gastronomy, as Zdeněk experienced it in socialism, abroad, in corporations to his own private business. Over the years, Zdeněk dares to say that he has seen some things, met some people and experienced some things.
Zdenek is an active sportsman, he loves golf and cycling.
Nikoleta Kováčová
Nikoleta Kováčová, a well-known Slovak food blogger and the author of the first Slovak cookbook on the topic of vegan food, bearing the characteristic name Slovegán, became a vegan in 2013. Since then, she already has three cookbooks to her credit, the first one she published in 2019 and the last one she finished this year. However, questions related to eating accompanied her throughout her life, because her parents worked in gastronomy and although it didn't seem that long, she herself somewhat followed in their footsteps. In Slovakia, she is known by the nickname "Raw daughter" (in Czech, "syrová"). The reason for the origin of this nickname is the fact that Nikoleta started with a raw diet, but also her nature and habit of telling things plainly, the so-called "raw". In addition, Nikoleta also runs her own blog about ethical veganism, plant-based recipes and cosmetics not tested on animals. Her traditional Slovak recipes in a vegan version are popular, I continue to teach more people, learn them too.
Matteo Crubellatti
Matteo Crubellati, the current chef of the chain of Italian bistros and restaurants La Collezione, was already there from an early age influenced and inspired not only by his family from Milan, but also by the years spent in Liguria and on the Cote d'Azur, but also by his love of traveling to the best restaurants in Italy, France and Spain, so he was very close to food. Until 2014, however, he worked with his father in the family construction company and studied to become an engineer. But his thoughts and heart were more and more in the kitchen, so he set out on an adventurous journey to become a chef.
He gathered his first experience in a small family restaurant in the center of Milan, where he absorbed the atmosphere and rhythm of the restaurant's cuisine with full sips. Later, when he started an apprenticeship at the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan with chef Sergio Mei in 2015, he was subsequently offered to travel to Prague. Matteo gladly accepted the offer and worked in Prague for two years under the leadership of the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant chef Leonardo Di Clemente. The desire for a change finally made Matteo go to the steak restaurant Gerge Prime Strak. But one day, Leonardo Di Clemente called him and offered him the position of Junior Sous Chef. It was impossible to refuse. As Matteo himself admits, it was Leonardo who gave him the most valuable information and to this day they are connected by a long-standing friendship. In 2019, the hotel opened two more restaurants, where he worked as Chef de Cusine. Two years later, he was put in charge of the kitchen at the Four Seasons in Prague.
At the end of 2021, after meeting Riccardo Lucque, Matteo was so influenced by Riccardo's enthusiasm and passion for Italian cuisine that he decided to join the La Collezione family as a chef. By the way, from time to time Matteo will diversify his menu with Asian or South American cuisine.
Pavel Berky
Pavel Berky is a fashion designer and currently a chef from Slovakia, but he has been living and creating in Prague for several years. He got into cooking thanks to the MasterChef Czechia competition, which he passed in 2020 and won a great third place. According to the jury, which consisted of very successful chefs Radek Kašpárek, Honza Punčochář and Přemko Forejt, Pavel was one of the most distinctive and creative personalities of the entire year of the competition.
Pavel devotes himself to both fashion and cooking at the same time. Not long ago, he published a wonderful cookbook, which was awarded as part of the Most Beautiful Czech Book of the Year competition, which is organized annually by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the National Literature Memorial.
Pavel always relies on aesthetics and creativity. His recipes are always a sign of novel combinations, distinctive flavors and perfect serving. He likes to pass on his knowledge and experience on his courses, but he also makes sure that you try everything out in practice.
Týna Roubitschek
Týnka is primarily the mother of a five-year-old son who replaced an office chair with a wooden spoon 7 years ago. And even though she is not a trained confectioner or a cook, food is the second most important thing in her life, after her son. She likes to make others happy, through the great food she cooks. Týna enjoys dancinghall and cooking with friends, so they put together the popular Jamaican streetfood @Yardieprague, which he devotes to during the summer.
She learned to cook and bake on her own, trying, tasting, and she was greatly influenced by her grandmother's kitchen, which inspires her to this day. She likes to build on their basic recipes and give them a more modern touch. In his free time, he bakes birthday and wedding cakes. Týna has gained experience in Bowl of Shoulders, Gingerbread's Dream, White Circus catering, King Solomon kosher restaurant and is now part of the Kro coffee team, where she bakes bread, baguettes and sweet treats.
Vojtěch Václavík
Chef and co-owner of Kro Kitchen, who decided to cook without compromise. Vojta gained experience in the Sansho restaurant with Paul Day and then went on an experience to Oslo, where he worked for two years in the Michelin-starred restaurant Fauna and completed several internships in Sweden and Denmark. After returning to Bohemia, he worked as the chef of Hergetova Cihelna, and then it was Kro. By opening the bistro, Kro kitchen has fulfilled his dream. He enriched the Prague gastronomic scene with a great concept, which is constantly growing. Now their portfolio also includes the bakery and café Kro Coffee & bakery as well as the new branch in Karlín Kro bistro & bar.
Jidapha Wisutrattana
Jidapha Wisutrattana was born in Suphanburi Province, Thailand, where she studied hotel management and worked in various five-star hotels for several years. She later discovered her great love for cooking and opened her own street stall with Thai specialties named Khan Jeen Namya. After arriving in the Czech Republic, she wanted to change the view of the cuisine of her native country. Occasional cooking at the celebrations has become an authentic and traditional Chilli Lips restaurant. Its goal is to show people real Thai cuisine, which offers an inexhaustible number of flavors. No substitutes or remakes of recipes, only real genuine tastes of Thailand, which you do not know in the Czech Republic.
(Thanks to Marie Bartošová and Gurmet magazine for the photo of Jidapha.)
Riccardo Lucque
Since 1993 Riccardo worked in London, e.g. for Zafferano restaurant. He has become the executive chef of the chain of five Italian restaurants there. Because of his work he moved for a short time also to New York. In 2002 Riccardo came to Prague as head chef of a restaurant called Square. Three years later he opened his first restaurant – Aromi, then La Finestra in Cucina and La Bottega bistros followed shortly.
Martin Kortus
Martin is interested the most about gastronomy and everything around it. His passion for food starts in New York.
He has studied the french culinary institut in 1992 in New York. Since then he works as a private chef, gastronomical advisor, cooking class lector and also as a chef in Il Vigneto and Bettola Restaurant. He has also worked in hotel Josef and he has been cooking in Monarcha and "The national bank of wine" couple of years.
Flemming Laugesen
After 15 years of intense discovery Italy, Flemming currently travels the country on a monthly basis in search of the next “unknown best wine”. His muses have been the many enlightened producers that Flemming has met and befriended. Flemming holds courses, seminars and trainings on wine for both professionals and private customers, in six languages.
Lukáš Pocnar
Lukáš has a lot of experience fe. in restaurants “Rybí Trh”, Les Moules and Renommé, where he participated in the opening of “Oblaca” where he worked as sous chef. In the Zizkov Tower Restaurant, he gained experience from Andrea Accordi, a Chef who brought the first Michelin star to the Czech Republic. After he came to work to La Bottega di Finestra under the leadership of chef Riccardo Lucque and Radek Hasman. Now he is the chef of the restaurant of the Italian chain of restaurants and bistros LaCollezione, specifically at La Bottega Bistroteka.
Jakub Čadina
Headchef of the wine bar and French restaurant Le Terroir. During his cooking career, Jakub worked in a number of famous Prague restaurants. He gained experience at Chagall's and at RED Pifu as a sous chef. For three years, he cooked under the guidance of Jan Punčochář at Grand Cru, where he gained a lot of experience. He ran the Italian restaurant La Bottega Gastronomica as a headchef for two years. And after the time of covid, the happy era of the rebirth of the new Le Terroir has already begun.
Juliana Fischerová
She has started to write a blog in 2012 about sourdough baking, Maškrtnica.cz. She and another food blogger (Cuketka) are founders of sourdough starter map and movement PečemPecen.cz. Since she was a little, Juliana enjoyed baking and cooking mainly for the family, later on she baked custom-made products and then she has been baking and frying donuts for restaurant Maso a kobliha.
Sofia Smith
Sofia is the Executive Chef of Cafe Buddha in Balbinova street. She started her career in Prague at the British Council and Angel Cafe and restaurant Angel. Sofia, British born and with Irish - Malaysian heritage. Sofia's specialty is authentic Asian cuisine with a contemporary twist. Prior to launching the experimental The Sexy Curry Company, she was the Executive Chef of Le Patio Restaurant.
Khanh Ta
Apart from his home table, he was introduced to Vietnamese cuisine during his internship at the Culinary Arts School in Saigon and while working in family-run Hanoi bistros. As a native of Jilemnice, he has spent most of his life in the Czech Republic, with internships at Michal Černý's Story and Přemek Forejt's Entrée. In 2014, he and his brother opened the Gao Den restaurant, and after a successful run came the opening of Tara. There they serve a seven-course tasting at the bar around an open kitchen.
František Holeček
"Long experience behind the bar has cultivated in me a love for this craft and everything that goes with it. I personally love rum because I discover something new with it every day. They say that if you do what you love, you're free - and with Don Papa, that's true without fail."
František Holeček is the ambassador for Don Papa Philippine Rum and the mixologist for Fever-Tree mixers at Ultra Premium Brands. This professional bartender has 16 years of experience behind the bars of the most renowned venues in Prague (Tretter's, Ocean Drive, Black Angel's) and has hundreds of catering and events to his credit.
Zdeněk Zajíc
"I love original ideas told through noble drinks. I like authenticity, unusualness and enthusiasm for even the finest nuances of flavours."
Zdeněk Zajíc is an expert in the field of haute cuisine. A former sommelier at the Le Bouchon Wine Gallery in Prague, he is now our expert on wines, champagnes and cognacs, led by the French cognac of the Godet family, which was at the very birth of the category in the 16th century. Bar culture, Zdenek believes, should convey beauty to the people - and he is proud to play an active part in it.
Marek Janouch
Marek started as a chef in the first Ambiente Restaurant in Mánesova Street. He participated in the launch of Lokál in Dlouhá, where he worked for 6 years, helped to launch others, and in 2013 he was the Chef of Lokál. He is the heart of the chef, the offer to open Kuchyň na Hradě didn't hesitate for a second. Today he has his own kitchen with a perfect team of chefs whom he heads and can't be happier.
Ondřej Hutník
Ondra started cooking in Scotland, after his return to the Czech he cooked in Maze by Gordon Ramsay restaurant at the Hilton old Town hotel, Phenix, V Zátiší, Čestr and than the Mandarin Oriental Prague, where he spent 5 years, last 2 years as the Deputy Chef. Ondra has also managed internships abroad at Michelin stars restaurants. From 2018 he worked as a sous chef in the Asian restaurant Sia led by chef Jiří Štift. Now he works as chef of Toodway Catering Group Together.
Honza Hochsteiger
Honza is better known under his nickname Master of Ice Cream or Mr. Zmrzlinka. And no wonder! He has been making crafts ice cream since 2002. He gained experience in Italy for four years, where he also graduated from Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna. In Prague he worked for major ice cream shops Cream & Dream or Cremeria Milano. In 2015, he opened his own artisan ice cream shop, Crème de la Crème, which quickly gained popularity. Today it has three places where ice cream lovers return to the best in Prague! No wonder! Honza makes his craft really good name. Not only does he know the history of ice cream like no one else, but he sincerely loves his work and does it with great honor, and that is simply to know.
Ladislav Dvořák
Ladislav is excited about traveling, Asian cuisine and street food. Cooking is a thing of him, he has been spending time with chefs since he was a little kid.
Essential experience for him was 5 years period in Essensia (todays Spices) in Mandarin Oriental Prague. He went for an internship to Sala Rim Naam in Bangkok. Then he went to London to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal for another internship. He was cooking in "U Štěpána" in a Šumava or "Babiččina zahrada". He established a brand new project Tamarind Tree with dim sum dumplings.
Pavel Palas
Years ago, Pavel fell into the unique wines of the Champagne region. He totally fell in love with the local biodynamic houses and imported their mature years to the Czech Republic. It organizes wine tasting and also acts as a consultant not only in the area of wine but also in gastronomy. He enjoys working with champagne, and so he always tries to describe, bring and taste wine, and to explain how to archive or compose a wine cellar.
Jiří Janouch
Jiří Janouch graduated from hotel school in Prague. He knows one of the owners of the bistro Dish from the time they worked together in the Hotel Yalta restaurant COMO, where Jiří worked as chief of cold cuisine. In DISH he participated on preparation of the complete concept before actual opening of the bistro and each item on the menu is his "baby".
Darina Sieglová
Darina has been writing for the Apetit magazine for years and regularly comes to cook for the Czech Television show Sam Doma. She has two children who forced her to exchange wild parties for family dinners. He is a believer of old order: warm dinners where the family sits at one table. The courses will tell you how not to go mad about children's (in) taste and duty to cook every day. Because "food is to be a joy for you and the children"
Julek Surmaj
Sushi master, Julek Surmaj, has been learning his knowledge from the best Japanese sushi masters for 19 years already. He began his sushi career at Ambiente and then he gained experience in restaurant Katsura, Aureole, Soho or Mandarin Oriental.
Julek Surmaj is an experienced chef who has been specializing in sushi and hot Japanese cuisine for more than 10 years. He began his career at Ambiente Brasileiro, where he realized that Japanese cuisine would be his lifelong passion. His steps then led to the Japanese restaurant Katsura, then to the fusion restaurant Aureole, the famous restaurant Soho or restaurant Koishi in Brno. To this day, he collaborates with Japanese chef Tsuda Hachira, the founder and owner of the Katsura restaurant. He will open Small Fish restaurant in Liberec this February and he also prepares catering for private events, weddings and parties.
Jan Punčochář
Honza's career began at the Ambasador Hotel, then he gained experience at the Fish Market, Zátiší Group and International Zlatá Praha. He left a very significant mark at Le Terroir restaurant, where he worked as a chef for ten years. This was followed by the Grand Cru period, which during his tenure became a sought-after restaurant with the hallmark of the highest quality. In 2019, he became a judge of the MasterChef Czech Republic competition for his qualities. Now he is fulfilling his dream as he will open two of his own places - the restaurant U Matěje in a place that is now gastronomically traditional, and the exclusive Stůl JP, where he will prepare the most exquisite dishes full of amazing flavours for just twelve guests.
Michal Hromas
Michal Hromas was in a couple of top restaurants to gain experiences like Obecní dům or Aromi.
Michal Hromas was in a couple of top restaurants to gain experiences like Obecní dům or Aromi. He is the right passionate person who has also been in the beginnings of new projects and also has created the bakery concept of Mama Coffee. He is a lector of Miele for a couple of years, he has founded Street Food Festival and he also has his own broadcast " Ve vlastní šťávě" at Český Rozhlas.
Frankie Gallucci
Frankie has loved food since his childhood. He got to Prague thanks to the internship in Ferrero. His domain and passion is pizza. For 9 months in a row, he studied the reactions and process of dough making, different kinds of flour, fermentation. All till the moment, he discovered the perfect combination. He loves the high-quality ingredients, his pizza became phenomenal in Prague.
Martin Beránek
Since 2003, Martin worked as a chef and pattisier at Ristorante Rialto. In 2008, Martin became the pattisiere for the Noem Arch Hotel. In 2009, he excelled again at Ristorante Rialto as a pastry chef. Since 2012, his professional career has been closely connected with La Bottega di Finestra, and later with Il Mercato in Brno. Martin also had the great privilege to bake for many VIPs, including the Czech Presdients.
Tomáš Babinec
Tomáš Babinec is literally a foodie and food devotee. He is also the founder of Čongrády, company which manufactures great pâté and meat products. It all started because of the love for food, Tomáš says. He wrote about it and gained the knowledge form the best chefs only. Today is the gastronomy not only his biggest hobby but also his professional mission. Tomáš is pushing the Czech scene forward.
Jiří Hilgart
An excellent chef, Jiří was a finalist in the Czech MasterChef competition. He’s also a very talented musician, having played double bass for 10 years in the symphonic orchestra, and played on the soundtrack for a Quentin Tarantino movie. He followed his other passion into the kitchen, where he prefers fresh, simple foods. With the right combination of ingredients, he creates harmony on the plate.
Tomáš Laca
Tomáš has been working with selected coffee for 10 years. He has been engaged in barista and home training for more than 4 years.
For the past two years, he has been running his own BeBerry Coffee coffee roaster, which focuses on roasting a microlot of selected coffees from around the world.
He is also the first Slovak in the world to obtain a Q Grader license. It is a certificate for the evaluation of selected coffee, which is standardized worldwide. There are approximately seven thousand Arabic Q Graders in the world, and there are now two in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Tomáš also enjoys competing, evaluating coffee and judging competitions. He works as a judge mainly at the barista competition Barista of the Year, where the preparation of espresso, a milk drink and a special drink based on espresso is evaluated. In competition, he enjoys the Cup Tasters the most, where he became the champion of Slovakia in 2019 and represented Slovakia at the World Championship in Brazil. This year, he and a colleague won the Barista League international competition as the first representatives in the Czech Republic.
Kryštof Hordina
Kryštof Hordina is the Whiskey Ambassador.
"Each whisk(e)y has its own story. What I enjoy about the ambassador's work is that I can, for a while, become part of it and bring it closer to others. Sláinte – or, in nice Czech, "cheers"."
Professional bartender Kryštof Hordina is an expert in single malt Scotch whisky. He has twelve years of experience in Czech and foreign bars (5 years in La Casa de la Havana vieja bar, Buddha-Bar in Paris, La Manera in Valencia). He participated in many mixological competitions, both as a competitor and as a judge. He won 1st place at the Clairin World Championship Global Finals and 2nd place at the Nikka Perfect Serve Global Finals.
Marika Klčová
Mari is a creative cooking and baking enthusiast and shares it all on her IG profile – mari_klee. Thanks to her grandfather - a baker, somehow unconsciously she got a taste for baking, but also for cooking. She had her grandfather as her great role model.
Her passion is Lievito or Pasta Madre kvass and she tries to sneak it into places where it is not normally found - be it different types of paste (pasta), dumplings, or into soups and sauces. He also takes kvass with him on vacation and has already traveled a good part of the world with it. Mari claims that food opens people's hearts and doors, which is why she likes to bake even on vacation and likes to donate her breads.
She started baking mainly for pleasure and in times when the internet was not so common. That's why the beginnings were based on the Trial/Error path. This allowed her to focus on what to do differently next time. In 2019, she obtained two professional qualifications at the Secondary School of Food Industry and Services in Pardubice. In April 2023, she baked in his two-day Sourdough MasterClass in Germany under the guidance of baker Beesham Soogrim, who holds courses all over the world and is her great baking role model. She managed to invite Beesham to the first baking Masterclass in the Czech Republic, which will be held in May 2024. We will thus be included in the list of countries in which such an event takes place.
Marika Klčová
Mari is a creative cooking and baking enthusiast and shares it all on her IG profile – mari_klee. Thanks to her grandfather - a baker, somehow unconsciously she got a taste for baking, but also for cooking. She had her grandfather as her great role model.
Her passion is Lievito or Pasta Madre kvass and she tries to sneak it into places where it is not normally found - be it different types of paste (pasta), dumplings, or into soups and sauces. He also takes kvass with him on vacation and has already traveled a good part of the world with it. Mari claims that food opens people's hearts and doors, which is why she likes to bake even on vacation and likes to donate her breads.
She started baking mainly for pleasure and in times when the internet was not so common. That's why the beginnings were based on the Trial/Error path. This allowed her to focus on what to do differently next time. In 2019, she obtained two professional qualifications at the Secondary School of Food Industry and Services in Pardubice. In April 2023, she baked in his two-day Sourdough MasterClass in Germany under the guidance of baker Beesham Soogrim, who holds courses all over the world and is her great baking role model. She managed to invite Beesham to the first baking Masterclass in the Czech Republic, which will be held in May 2024. We will thus be included in the list of countries in which such an event takes place.
Václav Vašek
After studying at the hotel school in Velké Meziříčí, Václav moved to Prague, where he joined Ambiente. There he met Ondřej Pokštefl and Flemming Laugesen and decided to concentrate on the work of a sommelier. After six years, he went to South Africa, where he completed a one-month internship in the most prestigious wineries. In the end, however, he went back on the European wine journey and after two years as head sommelier at the Bianco E Nero restaurant, he landed at Riccardo Lucque's La Finestra in Cucina restaurant.
Ladislav Balogh
Láďa's journey at La Collezione began in Aromi, before that he gained experience in Mariánské Lázně, the Barock restaurants, Bistrot de Marlene in Prague and the Sterr Hotel in Bavaria. He joined La Finestra as a manager, was present at the very opening and vividly remembers the first guests who ate there. Many of them still come to us today.
Roman Kintler
The chef of the Italian restaurant La Finestra in Cucina, Roman Kintler, comes with new energy and a great taste for pushing the limits of gastronomy.
After a successful stint at our sister restaurant La Bottega Linka, he received an offer that he couldn't refuse. So you have a lot to look forward to at La Finestra in Cucina. You will be in great hands.
Subscribe to the newsletter
Consent to the processing of personal data
